Where does “hobgoblin” come from?
Hobgoblin comes from Middle English hob, derived from Old Northern French gobelin, a mischievous creature in folklore.
hobgoblin (English): A small, ugly goblin that makes trouble for...
Definitions
- A small, ugly goblin that makes trouble for...
Ancestry of “hobgoblin”, step by step
hobgoblin traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English Hob
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Hob | A nickname for Robin Goodfellow, Puck; later the devil |
| 2 | Middle English | Hob | — |
| 3 | English | robin | Any of various passerine birds of the families... |
| 4 | Middle English | Robin | — |
| 5 | Old French | Robert | a Germanic (Old Frankish) borrowing |
| 6 | Frankish | berht | bright |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | berhtaz | bright, shining |
| 8 | Proto-Germanic | hrabnaz | raven |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱorh₂- | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱer- | to grow, to make grow, to nourish; to plait,... |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | kr̥- | to turn, to bend |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | ker- | army |